Feltner, D., E-A., Pandzich, & Mitra, R. (2018, August). Entrepreneurial careers for urban resilience in legacy cities: Narratives from Detroit. Presented during competitively selected Showcase Symposium to the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL.

1. ENTREPRENEURIAL CAREERS
FOR URBAN RESILIENCE IN
LEGACY CITIES:
NARRATIVES FROM DETROIT
Dorothy Feltner, M.A.
Rahul Mitra, Ph.D.
Elizabeth-Ann Pandzich, M.A.
Email: Rahul.mitra@wayne.edu
Careers in Cities:
Improving Lives,
Improving
Communities
Academy of
Management
2018

2. RATIONALE
Increasingly, cities (especially “postindustrial”
cities, like Detroit) are cultivating
entrepreneurial ecosystems for urban resilience
and sustainability (Aspen Network, 2013; Glaeser et al.,
2015; MIT Skoltech, 2014; Wolf et al., 2018)
Although scholars have begun to examine
socioeconomic and business environment
factors influencing entrepreneurial ventures and
ecosystems, the meaning-making of urban
contexts for entrepreneurial success remains
under-studied
Research Questions:
1. How do urban entrepreneurs draw from the
Detroit entrepreneurial ecosystem to build

3. RELEVANT LITERATURE
Entrepreneurial careers are highly valued in
mainstream discourse (e.g., Burton et al., 2016;
Giannantonio & Hurley-Hanson, 2016; Gibb Dyer, 1995; Gill &
Ganesh, 2007)
 Intrinsic reasons: Role flexibility, autonomy, and
creativity
 Extrinsic reasons: create additional jobs, tax
revenues, and downstream businesses to benefit
society
Increasingly, entrepreneurship ventures
center social and community needs in their
mission (Cohen & Munoz, 2015; Feldner & Fyke, 2016; Gill
& Larson, 2014; Littlewood & Holt, 2018; Selsky & Smith,
1994,)
 Community entrepreneurs, social
entrepreneurship, urban entrepreneurship,

4. … RELEVANT LITERATURE
Entrepreneurial ecosystems shape broader
cultures and build relevant social
infrastructures
 Network of diverse organizations that generate
competitive advantages through geographical
proximity, knowledge networks, and community
support (Acs et al., 2017; Assenza, 2016; Malecki, 2018;
Rencher, 2012; Roundy, 2016, 2017; Spigel , 2017; Spigel &
Harrison, 2017)
 Less clear is how entrepreneurial ecosystems
might work as “career communities” (Van Maanen &
Barley, 1984; Parker et al., 2004) in shaping career-
meaning-making by entrepreneurs, or how they
contribute to social-ecological resilience in
different contexts (Buzzanell, 2017; Folke, 2006;
Handmer & Dovers, 1996)

5. ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM
ACTORS
Entrepreneurs:
Start-ups &
Been-ups
Community
development
orgs.,
neighborhood
associations
Foundations,
venture funds,
CDFIs, angels
State &
municipal
agencies
Social &
Economic
development
nonprofits
Co-working,
incubators,
accelerators
University
systems,
technology
transfer

6. METHOD
Part of an ongoing ethnographic study on
entrepreneurial ecosystems and urban
meaning-making in Detroit, MI (Johnson et al.,
2006; Short & Hughes, 2009; Witteborn et al., 2013)
Data Collection
 Phase 1: Fieldwork at public workshops, meetings,
talks since August 2017
 Phase 2: Interviews with 27 entrepreneurs in food,
technology, and lifestyle/creative sectors
 14 females and 13 males; 12 Black, 11 White, and 4
Other; engaged with the current ecosystem for at least
2 years
Pragmatic-iterative analysis of qualitative
data, via primary and secondary-cycle
coding (Tracy, 2013)

7. RQ1: HOW DO ENTREPRENEURIAL
CAREERS DRAW FROM THE
ECOSYSTEM?
Identity
Resources
Knowledg
e
Communit
ies
Space
Access
Communicat
ion Needs
Sustaining
Startups
• Learn about
entrepreneurial processes
for startups and been-ups
• Connect with support
organizations and other
entrepreneurs
• Reimagine
“entrepreneur”
• Narratives of
strength
• Cooperative
community
• Shared and
dedicated
operating space
• Event space for
networking
• Branding
• Internal team
communication
• Pitch development
• Identify market
niches
• Connect with local
associations
• Help evolve and
grow with the
neighborhood

8. IDENTITY RESOURCES
 Reimagine “entrepreneur” label
 Narratives of strength and confidence
 Cooperative community
P13: "I met a lot of other artists and realized when I met
them, they had no idea what they were doing in the
entrepreneurial realm, in the small business realm. I had
the experience, so now how can I mentor them? I started
to mentor, and then I started to privately coach other
creatives to help them succeed, to empower them. As I
was doing that, I realized I really like that; not that I liked
it more, but it felt more powerful. It felt better than just
creating my work and being my own entrepreneur, but to
help my peers just rise out of that starving artist mindset,
because so much of it is emotional. We are undervalued,
artists and designers are undervalued in society, so how
do I help my peers raise their confidence level, find their
value, and stand in it while they're creating, and to profit,

9. KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITIES
 Learn about start-up and been-up
processes
 Broader agenda items for
entrepreneurship (e.g., permitting,
build-out)
 Specific items and issues for their
business (e.g., location-business fit)
 Connecting with other support
organizations and with other
entrepreneurs
P3: “So the XXX program allowed me to connect with
businesses and connect with the network within the
community, and the Detroit sector, to grow from
there… I have been able to establish connections with
businesses that I would have not been able to connect
with, had I not been a part of, or started with the XXX
program, because it is required that you go through
their program in order to take advantage of some of
the resources that are available.”

10. SUSTAINING START-UPS
 Identify specific market niches for the
medium and long terms
 Connect with local associations for
growth
 Help to evolve and grow with the
neighborhood (and beyond!)
P7: "Instead of starting from scratch, you can plug into
organizations like XXX or any [of the] other organizations in
Detroit. Because running a restaurant is not only about
making the pizza; there's a lot of other issues, HR issues,
you have to teach your people to be independent, try to get
yourself loose from the place if possible so you're not
running around all day long. Stop being self-employed and
move to next level, where you can at least have that place
run on its own, eventually, one day. We're still trying to do
these things, this takes a lot of commitment, a lot of
mindset changes. You really have to be focused on where
you want to go next so you can build your platform to carry

11. RQ2: WHAT DISCOURSES DO
ENTREPRENEURS USE TO POSITION
URBAN RESILIENCE AS CENTRAL TO
THEIR CAREERS?
Entrepreneurship as place-based
resilience work
Co-opetition to bolster broader
ecosystem

12. PLACE-BASED RESILIENCE
WORK
P9: "It means starting your own business. Making it for
yourself. Being your own boss. Really participating in an
activity and an environment that advances the local
economy in a different way. You're contributing not really to
a company in particular, but to yourself and to your local
 Deep physical and
emotional connections to
place
 The work of
entrepreneurship is the
work of urban renewal
 Creative work
 Autonomous work
 Risky venture: “nobody
else can do this.”
 Rooted in crisis
 Kick-start a broader
process
P2: "I love the vibe of
Detroit. This is where I
was born. It's important
for me to be based here. I
really want to be part of
the renaissance, that
movement that's coming
back."

13. …PLACE-BASED RESILIENCE
WORK
P1: "The point is, you'd have
to be a fool to set up a
concierge medical practice
in [neighborhood] Detroit
because no other doctor is
going to do this. For me, it's
a part of living my mission.
I'm delivering affordable,
accessible health care where
there's literally no other
options for affordable and
accessible health care in a
way that's approachable for
people. Sometimes these
challenges that I face are
fuel to do something that
nobody is going to do or
nobody else is willing to do."
P22: "I'm not a gas station,
and I'm not going into a
neighborhood to open a
church. I basically was an
arrogant son of a B, that
wanted to say I'm going to
create a casual, fine dining
restaurant, in a
neighborhood that hasn't
seen one in or 25 or 30
years. People looked at you
and go, 'Something's wrong
with this person. Who the
hell does he think he is?‘…
It looks like arrogance,
[but] it was me taking a
dream and saying, 'I always

14. CO-OPETITION TO BOLSTER
ECOSYSTEM
 Competition, mixed
with cooperation, is
crucial
 Figure out unique
niches, markets, or
operating models that
allow everyone to
thrive
 Networking and
community
engagement are key
 Emotional, financial, &
strategic support
 Be open to new
perspectives and
actors, and flexible
P19: "If you are willing to share,
people are willing to share with
you too. So, that has helped us
because… it's not really a
competition. I don't feel like I'm
waking up every morning
competing with the next guy. I
know that there is a company
that came from [City], is now
down at [Food Hub] and trying
slowly to infiltrate Detroit. But
here we are, we have
established ourselves here and
have a tap on some of the
market. They've got to have a
different game plan than ours
because they're not the same
person. I think having that idea

15. …CO-OPETITION TO BOLSTER
ECOSYSTEM
P8: “Here at [Support Org.], if
you're willing to open yourself
up, there's so many different
opportunities. I've seen lots of
businesses that have come
through here that have not
embraced the community in
interacting and engaging, and
they don't last here very long.
The network here is what helped
me build my business, the
connections… Every single one of
the people here could be a
potential client, but you'll never
know if you don't speak with
them. You have to come into your
environment, but also be willing

16. SUMMARY & IMPLICATIONS
Our findings demonstrate how entrepreneurs in
postindustrial cities draw from broader
entrepreneurial ecosystems for their work
(RQ1), and sheds light on the intersecting
discourses used to center urban resilience in
their career stories (RQ2).
 Entrepreneurial careers are “bounded” (Dany et al.,
2011) by urban contexts and social expectations,
requiring significant identity work and highlighting
the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems as career
communities.
 Emergence of “responsible career” (Tams & Marshall,
2011) narratives in postindustrial urban
entrepreneurs’ accounts, shaped by deep
rootedness to place and appreciation for co-

17. THANK YOU
Twitter: @rahulmitra | Email:
rahul.mitra@wayne.edu